The following are notes made after listening to a broadcast of The World Tomorrow by Garner Ted Armstrong in April 1975. It is entitled "GTA in Jerusalem." The broadcast may be downloaded at the following link courtesy of Intercontinental COG Australia.

http://www.icg.org.au/M5058%20GTA%20in%20Jerusalem.wma

The first half is Garner Ted Armstrong talking in Jerusalem. The second half is made back in Pasadena.

He discusses the impending end of the Vietnam War.

Garner Ted Armstrong condemns proposals and speculations in the American
press that an agreement can be made between the State of Israel and Yasser Arafat, leader of the
Palestine Liberation Organization. He mentions his disgust and bafflement that Yasser Arafat should have gained applause in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

He mentions that after talking to various Israeli leaders he is convinced that the Israeli leaders will not negotiate with Yasser Arafat and that they would not give the Palestinians anything more than what they are already being given. Mentions that Israeli leaders call Jerusalem the heart of Israel so they will not give it up to make peace with the Palestinians.

He cites his son who had been living in Jerusalem for several months beforehand who mentions that whenever an act of violence against Israeli Jews occur many Palestinian citizens of Israel are dismayed for two reasons. Some are opposed to using violence on principle. Also it is noted that whenever such a thing occur a severe police crackdown occurs. Roadblocks are set up. Cars are searched. Car hubcaps are searched.

He belittles Yasser Arafat's standing among the Palestinians by noting that there are many differing factions among the Palestinians. He says that Yasser Arafat should watch his back because of the many other Palestinian factions then operating.

Insists that the State of Israel will not give any more than what has already been given. He states that the leaders of Israel are determined to hold on to the land gained in 1967.

He condemns the fact that the United Nations that proposed to partition Palestine in 1947 should now call for the State of Israel to withdraw from certain areas as part of a peace agreement.

He never explains why some proposed that the State of Israel should relinquish East Jerusalem, namely that no national government recognizes the State of Israel as having any right to rule East Jerusalem (except the State of Israel). Today 130 sovereign governments recognize the State of Israel but they only recognize Israel's right to rule the land of their 1949-1967 borders. None of the 130 nation states recognize Israel as having any right to rule East Jerusalem. This includes the United States. Consequently the other national governments view East Jerusalem as occupied by the State of Israel. This also applies to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and (until it was returned to Egypt) the Sinai Peninsula.

But calling East Jerusalem the heart of Israel is in other words a rejection of these facts and signify a determination to hold onto East Jerusalem regardless of the lack of legal recognition given to Israeli rule over East Jerusalem by any sovereign government (except Israel).

Notably the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the Israeli War of Independence in which about 750,000 Palestinians were expelled by the State of Israel into surrounding nations of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere thus rendering them stateless refugees is never mentioned or explained. Naturally with a vast event like this estimates vary.

Statistics for refugee figures have been as high as 935,573 according to
UNRWA registrations, to as low as 530,000 according to some Israeli
sources. The British Foreign Office estimated the total number of
refugees to be 810,000 in February 1949 and then issued a revised
estimate of 600,000. The UNCCP Technical Office gave a figure of
760,000. The US government estimated a total refugee population of
875,000 as of 1953. [It states elsewhere that the consensus figure is
now about 750,000.] (Beyond Occupation, 2011, p. 292.)

The rise of Yasser Arafat was a direct result of Israel's triumph in the Six Day War. Once the Palestinians saw that the Arab nations were unable to defeat the State of Israel or to implement their return many Palestinians chose to take up arms themselves and joined militant factions such as Fatah.

Garner Ted Armstrong insists that the Arabs have all the cards in their hands. He mentions that President Sadat complained that the Americans had all the cards. Garner Ted Armstrong denies this and insists it is the other way around. Scare mongers that the oil weapon may soon be used against the United States.

He states that the State of Israel will never negotiate with Yasser Arafat or give the Palestinians anymore than what they are already being given. He speculates that this Israeli stance this will lead Europe to intervene and bring the prophetic scenario he has taught to occur.

Scare mongers that some among the German elites who were sympathizers of the Nazi regime are waiting to launch a drastic shift to the right in West Germany. He says West Germany is a growing military power making their own jet aircraft which, he says, can easily be converted for military use. German democracy has never been tested, he says, insinuating that West Germany could easily throw away its democratic practices. To this day Germany has remained a democracy.

Mentions a protest of two million in Seoul calling for American military presence should remain. But a Senator wants to remove it. Garner Ted Armstrong asserted that America is becoming isolationist. It is insinuated that this will lead to the rise of Europe led by West Germany.

West Germany with nuclear weapons? He boasts that he has been saying the same thing for twenty years. He scare mongers that Britain and France will soon hand over their nuclear weapons to a collective European body and thus, he asserts in an alarmist way, to West Germany.

The address is given out as Ambassador College obscuring the fact that it is a religious organization behind the radio broadcast.

The following is from journalist Richard Silverstein (October 26, 2015) commenting on profiling at Ben Gurion Airport while discussing a report from Mako (Hebrew).

At Ben Gurion, travelers are divided into three categories. The first
is most preferred: Jews, both Israeli and non-Israeli; the second is
considered “normal” and includes non-Jews; the third is “suspect” and is
comprised of Arabs. A veteran security official tells the reporter that
when he monitors travelers he’s not looking for someone who will try to
hijack a plane. Rather, he’s seeking someone who looks like he’s
trying to hide something; something that even he may not know he’s
hiding because it’s been planted on him. The official continues that
they’re taught to identify Arabs by certain unconventional measures
including the shoes they wear. Because Arab villages have few paved
roads their shoes tend to be dusty. The palms of a man’s hand can tell
him that he’s a day laborer, meaning he’s more likely to be Arab.
Wearing black stone-wash jeans, which are popular among Arab youth is
another dead giveaway. He notes that one inspector was fired because
she couldn’t successfully identify Arab Christians, who sometimes have
Jewish-sounding names. ...

A Mizrahi Jew tells the reporter that since he’s taken to wearing
glasses, growing his hair longer and more curly and added a moustache,
he’s not taken for “Arab.” On his many trips abroad he’s experimented
with Israeli security and if he doesn’t wear glasses he’s invariably
detained. When he was clean-shaven, he found that he was viewed as more
of a threat. In New York, it’s sexy and in Israel it’s threatening.
The solution is to make yourself appear European, but in a
sophisticated way. Adidas sneakers don’t go well with eyeglasses, so
don’t get mixed up. But the best manner to avoid being profiled is to
have a woman accompany, preferably a white woman. Another is to be in a
group of individuals darker than you, because they’ll stop them and let
you go.

Arab travelers note that colored stickers affixed to their passport
picture and airline tickets identify their ethnicity. Jews get a yellow
sticker and Arabs a different color.

As mentioned in a previous post
Chloe Valdary is a member of the Intercontinental Church of God which was founded by Garner Ted Armstrong in 1998. She is
the daughter of an Intercontinental COG minister, Max Valdary. She has been mentioned elsewhere on this blog.

Among Evangelical Christians the main organization supporting the State of Israel is Christians United For Israel (CUFI) which was founded in 2006 by John Hagee. Every year in July CUFI holds a summit in Washington, D.C. Here is what was posted on CUFI's Twitter account in July of each year.

July 2015. (Held just after the agreement between the P5+1 nations and Iran.)

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Banned by HWA has reported the tragic news that Karl Beyersdorfer has died by suicide. He graduated Ambassador College, Big Sandy in 1966. He was the minister for Joplin, Missouri for LCG. This is terrible news.

PCG has a new radio show to try and get more people interested in and joining PCG. It is entitled Trumpet Radio Live and is hosted by Dwight Falk and Abraham Blondeau. The first episode is dated May 25, 2016. and mainly consists of complaining about young people not moving out of their parents' houses. It is fearfully intoned that if so many are staying at with their parents then what will happen later?

Well at least those young people do not live off of scaring people into thinking that the end is near and that to get away from this catastrophe they should join this organization and pay three tithes and extra offerings for the rest of one's life.

PCG's leaders find a way to get an income without spreading fear inducing prophecies before they moan about what other people are doing.

So Avigdor Lieberman is now the Defense Minister of the State of Israel. And this development was discussed on PCG's Trumpet Hour (May 27, 2016). This is alluded to with the following words in the synopsis.

Israel has a new defense minister whom many people call an ultra-right-wing nationalist.

Anthony Chibarirwe, Joel Hilliker and Brad MacDonald discuss this development from 9:40 to 17:52. As is to be expected it ends with Joel Hilliker and Brad MacDonald minimizing the concerns about Lieberman by saying the problems and threats to the State of Israel are so terrible thus minimizing the worries concerning Lieberman. The controversy surrounding him is minimized and essentially ignored.

Mark Armstrong has another weekly update (May 27, 2016). Let's take a look.

First he scare mongers about transgender people. He absurdly scare mongers that laws to protect them would bankrupt businesses and then inconsistently complains that big businesses are accommodating to them.

Carried to its natural conclusion, this kind of legislation would effectively put most companies and institutions that refused to comply with this perverted nonsense out of business. A great many big corporate names have already adopted "pro-gay," trans-gender, global-warming policies and advertise the fact as if it's good for business. Americans have apparently viewed the phenomenon as a fact of life that they could do nothing about, and either been quietly accepting or silent.

He then complains that things are not going well for the United States. Perhaps he is blaming gays for this but his weekly updates tend to be so filled with loose associations it is hard to know what to make of it.

Whether anybody has noticed or not, the country has not exactly flourished as the "gay" revolution has taken hold in the Supreme Court, in the U. S. military services, in corporations, all over the entertainment industry and throughout our society. Bankruptcies are all up and down nearly every road you travel, even in Texas where the economy is statistically so much stronger than anywhere else.

He insists everything is falling apart and in his typical style of loose association brings up many issues. He brings up many talking points that reveal his political leanings happen to be right wing as is common among the COGs' leaders.

Our enemies are more brazen than ever before, maybe because we have a limp-wristed leadership that includes the top jobs in the Pentagon. Russia invaded Ukraine, threatens more of eastern Europe, breaches our national airspace and buzzes our warships with fighter jets on the high seas. China has built islands for military installations in the middle of the South China sea, and warns that its military is "ready for war" if provoked. Iran extends a filthy middle digit in America's general direction every couple of days in spite of Obama's sweetheart deal, guaranteeing it a clear path to nuclear weapons. The national debt threatens our very existence, yet the spending continues to increase because it's always "the right thing ta doo." [Sic.] Protesters play hopscotch atop police cruisers, throw rocks and bottles at law enforcement while the cops stand back and "hold the line."

People who dare profess belief in God and country are besmirched as retarded throwbacks to a time that never was. History is being rewritten on a daily basis as the president continues his "apology tour," and insists that he's not apologizing. He gave a rambling speech at the Hiroshima museum where the U. S. is characterized as an unprovoked aggressor, and called for the abolition of nuclear weapons. At this point, that's about like calling for the abolition of guns. Only criminals would have them.

He then complains that the government is releasing criminals even though the United States currently has the largest population behind bars of any nation on Earth. Even though it is well known that a cataclysmic war is being waged in Syria so it is little wonder so many have fled he insists on slurring them as threats to security. So often the COGs insists everything will fall apart but when everything actually did fall apart in Syria this person chose to slur them as threats to be kept away from his country.

But aren't criminals the next protected class anyway? They're being let out of prison by the thousands, "non-violent drug dealers" many of whom also had gun crimes on their record. Terrorists have been released out of Guantanamo Bay back to the Middle East by the dozens over the past couple of years. Syrian refugees are being secreted into the United States from Europe, even though every law enforcement agency has said they are an unpredictable danger. It has just been reported that some $18 million has been spent recently by ICE to fly illegal minors who crossed our southern border to their preferred destinations, to join up with other illegal family members. From the president on down through agencies charged with our national protection, the United States is encouraging a deluge of lawlessness and using "law enforcement" to flood in people who have no respect for life or law. You don't have to read too far beyond the headlines to realize that our way of life, our traditions and history are under a full scale attack. It is as if the curses of sin from the Old Testament are in full force. They're everywhere you look.

He then mentions a meeting between the Pope and the grand imam of Al Azhar. He insinuates this could have some sort of prophetic significance. He insists that terrorists are true Muslims which is one thing the terrorists want by the way. He insinuates that refugees fleeing from the Middle East are not really refugees despite the well documented problems causing their flight. He condemns as a ploy to get people fixated on climate change.

In other news that may well be of prophetic importance, the pope just held what is described as an "historic meeting" at the Vatican with the grand imam of Cairo's al-Ahzar mosque. He's purported to be the most influential religious leader to Sunni Muslims. They've apparently figured out the solution to the centuries-old rift between Christianity and Islam in light of present circumstances. The trick is to deny all connections between Islam and terrorism while insisting that westerners accept Muslim "refugees" as "the poor." This way everybody can get serious about confronting the true threat to all humanity, global warming! At this point you have to wonder if that monstrous scam isn't the ONE RELIGION that all mankind will have to accept in order to participate in financial transactions.

He also scare mongers about the European Union.

The UK is writhing and convulsing over the upcoming referendum on continued EU membership. The latest is that the EU has plans for a multi-national military force, that will include Britain if they vote to "remain" in the European Union, and that fact has been intentionally concealed from the British people during the debate.

Even though Armstrongism has never been forced to endure religious persecution since it arose in the 1930s

These are tumultuous times, domestically and internationally and many of the Bible's warnings about what would transpire in the end times are swirling all around us. Evil is good in the eyes of our leadership, and good as described by the Word of God is a whole series of hate crimes. Discrimination, you might say. May we have the fortitude to remain faithful and loyal to the TRUTH as evil invades every square inch of our formerly blessed land.

He ends with a postscript advising his followers to prepare for the improperly observed Feast of Tabernacles.

P.S. We hope you all have the new Feast brochure, mailed out last week. This week saw the monthly letter mailed, and the new Twenty-first Century WATCH magazine is nearly complete. Response has been excellent, and everyone in Tyler is working to get all requested material out in a timely fashion. Thanks to all. nks to all. [Sic.]

If he just talked about believing in God and organizing the improperly observed Feast of Tabernacles he would sound so much more respectable instead of these misanthropic, meandering rants that go everywhere and nowhere.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Back in 1995 Roderick C. Meredith wrote a booklet entitled Do You Believe the True Gospel? In this booklet Meredith insists that the establishment of Christ's rule over the entire world after the second coming is the gospel, not Jesus' divinity and resurrection.

For this post we shall be looking at the earlier 1996 version of this booklet.

Meredith begins with the following words in the introduction.

What did Jesus REALLY preach?
Do you know? Don’t be too sure!
Just what did He mean by
“the Kingdom of God”?
Here is exciting Good News:
there IS a new world coming!

Use of Biblical Commentaries

In this booklet several times biblical commentaries are cited. Here are some of the books cited in Meredith's booklet followed by where they are cited in Meredith's booklet.

Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993. (p. 6.)

James Hastings, A Dictionary of the Bible, 1988. (p. 7.)

The Anchor Bible Dictionary. (pp. 15-16.)

George E. Ledd, The Kingdom of God. (pp. 16-17.)

Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, 1989. (p. 17.)

Edward Gibson, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (p. 34.)

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. (p. 40.)

Seeing
these sources cited one unfamiliar with the COGs would assume that Meredith, the
author of this booklet, had studied the Bible for many years. Such a
reader might think the ideas expressed in this booklet were partly
derived from studying books and resources such as these. That is not so.

But
the main ideas expressed in this booklet are largely derived from the
teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. Meredith as a young man listened to a
radio show hosted by HWA. In 1947 HWA started up his own unaccredited
college, Ambassador College, to train up ministers for his organization. Meredith was one of the first to go to there and was ordained a
minister by HWA on December 20, 1952. Ever since then Meredith has
devoted himself to spreading HWA's ideas, first on behalf of HWA's
organization and from 1992 onward for his own COG splinter group, Global
Church of God (1992-8) and Living Church of God (1998-present).

Meredith's citing of the books above are merely camouflage to hide the fact that his ideas are largely derived from HWA, a man who had no specialized instruction in understanding the Christian religion.

Meredith threatens the reader's salvation to make him or her believe what Meredith says.

But is that
really
the Gospel Jesus taught? If you have accepted, without question, the almost unanimous voice of mainstream
Christianity in this regard, you probably think so. Yet consider
what Mark Twain wrote: ....

Do you really
know
what constitutes the genuine Gospel that
Jesus and His apostles preached? Or have you made a careless
assumption, following the crowd as Mark Twain noted, taking
your beliefs from second-hand suppositions? (p. 2.)

Mark Twain was an Atheist. Why is Meredith appealing to a non-religious man such as him in order to inspire doubt and uncertainty among his readers?

Jesus is plainly saying that one can worship Him to no purpose, uselessly—if the doctrines on which that worship is based have their source in men’s erroneous ideas about how to interpret the Scriptures rather than the plain, intended teaching of the Word of God! (p. 3.)

Meredith insinuates to his Christian readers that they religion is worthless in order to them to join his LCG.

What, then, is the actual Gospel that Jesus preached? Did He simply tell people to believe on Him—or was it far more than that? This is a vital question because, if you believe a lie rather than the Truth, you will eventually find yourself holding a bag of false hopes and unfulfilled expectations! (p. 3.)

Once again Meredith threatens his readers' salvation to get their attention and make them doubt their own churches in order to convince them to join his LCG.

Christ later inspired the Apostle Paul
to pronounce a double curse on
anyone
who would dare preach a
different Gospel. He told the Galatian Christians, “But even if
we, or an angel of heaven, preach ANY other gospel to you than
what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have
said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other
gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed”
(Gal. 1:8-9). (p. 4.)

But who was Paul talking about in Galatians? That letter was a polemic condemning those who said that Christians must be circumcised in order to fulfill the law.

Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. ... And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! (Galatians 5:2-4, 11-12, NKJV.)

In other words Paul was condemning those who insisted that the law was in force upon non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Meredith insists the law is in force for Christians today. Those condemned by Paul advocated circumcision in order to fulfill the law. Meredith insists the law is to be fulfilled even though he and HWA before him do not call for anyone to be circumcised. The difference is merely one of degree.

Meredith proclaims himself as one who "believes the doctrines clearly established by the original, faithful apostles as testified to by the Scriptures". Note how Meredith buries this claim in a sub-clause of the sentence as though it was not so important.

This is why I say—as a minister of Jesus Christ who teaches and believes the doctrines clearly established by the original,
faithful apostles as testified to by the Scriptures—that it is
critically
important for you and your salvation to recognize the true
Jesus Christ of the Bible and to prove for yourself what is the
genuine Gospel which He preached! (p. 4.)

This is a claim by Meredith to prop up his teachings.

Meredith seeks to gain the readers' trust by telling them that they are not obligated to believe what he says.

Don’t blindly believe this booklet—or
any
commentary or
Bible study aid. Believe your Bible—believe God! People have
gone off track spiritually by relying solely on men. God’s Word
commands you to “
prove all things”
(1 Thess. 5:21 KJV). Check
up on this and examine it for yourself. Suspend your prior opinions and just read what God says. It will soon be clear in your
mind that the Gospel of Christ is His message, from the Father,
about
the Kingdom of God. (p. 6.)

But once one has become convinced that God is with Meredith's following such persons are expected to do as they are told.

Meredith asserts that his opinion was held without dispute by the early Christians until some two decades after the time of Jesus Christ.

It was not until false teachers began to subvert the early
Church that Christ’s Gospel began to be perverted. Paul, writing
about two decades after Christ’s death, was aware of one such
distortion: “There are some who trouble you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7). Among a growing number of
heresies, perhaps none was gaining as much momentum as the
new gospel about the events of Christ’s life and of simply believing on His person to be saved. (p. 7.)

Paul was not talking about some people who said the law of the Old Testament were abolished. Paul was talking about those who insisted that Christians had to be circumcised.

But what is
absolutely certain from this verse is that
the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God cannot be a simple proclamation stating
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
For we have just
seen in Luke 9:11 that they had
already
been preaching the
Gospel—but obviously had NOT told the people that Jesus
was the Christ! (p. 8.)

Meredith insists that Jesus Christ's divinity, death and resurrection are not the gospel.

The Gospel which Jesus had sent the apostles to preach was
not centered on believing on Christ’s
person
or receiving forgiveness of sins through His sacrifice.
Just talking about
Christ is not the Gospel!
Yes, Jesus Christ
is
the most important Person ever to have walked the earth. He was indeed God
in the flesh, the Son of God, who came as the Christ to give His
life to atone for the sins of mankind. And He has been resurrected to be the Savior of the world. All of this is true. And—
although it is
extremely
necessary—none of this is the
sole
focus
of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. It was only Jesus was resurrected that He added this element to the message
the apostles were to preach
after.... (pp. 9-10.)

With an attitude like that it is little wonder that the COGs tend to not focus on Jesus but are more fixated on dire predictions that catastrophes will soon occur before Christ's return.

Pages 11-12 contains an insert in which Meredith exploits I Corinthians 15 to discredit the mainstream churches by insisting that they should place more emphasis upon Christ's return and the Millennium.

Pages 13-14 contains an insert in which Meredith seeks to explain away a passage of Acts 10 to insist that believing in Jesus is not the gospel.

Chapter 2

Meredith cites some varying interpretations of what the gospel is to insinuate that they are not worth listening to. Because some of them do not fixate on the coming of a kingdom to soon arrive on the Earth after Christ's return it is insisted that they must be false Christians.

Too many in this deceived world think of
Christ as either “the little Lord Jesus, away in a manger” or as a
frail weakling nailed to a cross. They do not contemplate His role
as a coming, omnipotent Ruler and King. (p. 18.)

Meredith cites Daniel 2, a chapter that has often been the fixation of Adventists from the 1830s onward. (pp. 18-22.)

Meredith expresses vehement disagreement and even contempt with those who do not share his literalist interpretation of Daniel 2.

Did this dream mean something? Yes, because God had
inspired this one! It was prophetic. However, some people think
that Bible prophecy is just melodic poetry—serving no guiding,
foretelling purpose. Others think that prophecy does indeed have
meaning but that we cannot possibly decipher what that meaning
is—at least not until after its fulfillment and often not even then.
There are still others who subscribe to the idea that prophetic
meaning is subject to personal interpretation. (p. 19.)

Did you catch that? God is speaking here of
literal
kingdoms—a succession of world-ruling governments. This is clearly
not talking about syrupy, sentimental concepts. God is making
the Truth plain! (p. 20.)

Meredith insists that his understanding of these things is not some private interpretation but the true way to understand the Bible.

We must never try to interpret the Bible by reading our ideas
into it! And we must NOT believe the
personal
interpretation of
other human beings. We must deeply
study
the Bible—comparing Scripture with Scripture. We must let the Bible interpret
itself. (p. 20.)

The Kingdom is only to arrive on Earth after the second coming.

A statue depicting a man beating his sword into a plowshare
stands outside the United Nations’ headquarters in New York
City—but a quick look at the TV or newspapers will show you
that the United Nations has not fulfilled this wonderful prophecy
of nations not learning war anymore! (p. 23.)

Meredith insists that his readers have not heard this message because those in power do not like this message.

Why haven’t we been hearing that kind of Gospel in
today’s world?
You probably know why. This message is
extremely unpopular with most of the religious, political and
social leaders in today’s power structures. They don’t want to
lose their power! This was one of the reasons the chief priests and
the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus (John 11:47-53). Nevertheless,
there WILL be a real “new world order” established under Jesus
Christ’s leadership, totally changing this world’s political and
religious institutions. (p. 24.)

This passage reveals that this booklet is aimed at those unfamiliar with Adventist ideas about Christ establishing paradise on Earth after the second coming.

But what if one wishes to respectfully disagree? Meredith does not allow this by insinuating that those who disagree with him are deceived by Satan the Devil.

Will you believe what God says, or will
you swallow the “philosophical concoctions” brewed up by disobedient, sinful men who have been DECEIVED by Satan the
Devil, the “god” of this world ... ? (p. 24.)

After this Meredith has to explain away various Scriptures that could be used to object to his Adventist teaching. (pp. 25-28.)

Meredith uses a parable to insist that those who follow him will be able to rule over several cities after Christ's return.

“Likewise he said to him,
‘You also be over five cities’”
(vv. 17-19). Wow! Those who overcome in their Christian lives
will be given authority and rulership in the Kingdom of God.
How exciting to have an opportunity to serve others and teach
them God’s ways! (p. 29.)

Meredith once again expresses his contempt for those who disagree with them and who hope to be with God in heaven after death.

This amazing Good News is related in numerous other
Scriptures. It is certainly not talking about the Church in this
age. Nor is it talking about “rolling around heaven all day.”
The book of Matthew does not call God’s Kingdom the
“kingdom IN heaven.” It is the “kingdom OF heaven”—it
comes down FROM heaven. (p. 29.)

Is the United Kingdom OF Great Britain and Northern Ireland not IN Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Meredith states the Kingdom of God is interpreted by Meredith to refer to something to happen after Christ's return.

The
saints of God will possess the Kingdom AT THAT TIME—as
glorified, immortal, divine beings! (p. 32.)

This alludes to HWA and Meredith's God Family dogma.

Meredith insists that those who believe what he says will establish world peace.

An awesome future awaits God’s saints! They will be
empowered to help bring genuine peace and joy to this suffering,
bloody world. No more temporary, and often worthless, “Band-
Aid” solutions! The immortal saints will assist Christ in enacting
effective solutions and reforms for all humanity. Yes, they will
join with Christ in RULING this world and straightening out the
problems
where the problems are
—right here on earth. (p. 32.)

Meredith insists a wonderful experience awaits those who believe his words.

We can
be there
after the prophesied last trumpet sounds
and Christ returns as King of kings. “Behold, I tell you a mys-
tery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52). As that final trumpet blast pierces the air and a world-rocking earthquake shakes
the earth to its foundation (Rev. 11:13-15; 16:18), the faithful
saints in Christ will no doubt experience a special thrill of joy
as they rise to meet Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Then
they will descend with Him to the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11-
12; Zech. 14:3-4) to begin the job of bringing PEACE to a
rebellious world. (p. 33.)

Meredith asserts that his followers will be with the great personages of the Bible.

Under Jesus Christ’s authority, many of us may assist King
David of Israel, the man after God’s own heart, who will be resurrected and given back his former job of leading the 12 tribes
of the nations of Israel (Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 37:24). We will get to
know Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the other faithful
saints and servants of God from all generations. For then we will
truly be “born of God”—born of the resurrection into God’s
Family Kingdom. (p. 33.)

Meredith asserts his followers will defeat the European dictator that Meredith has been insisting will soon conquer the United States.

God’s saints—the “overcomers”—will be given the opportunity, under Christ’s leadership, to deal with the tyrant who
will bring humanity to the brink of annihilation.... (p. 33.)

Meredith insists that the good news is not Jesus Christ dying on the Cross and being resurrected. It is the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth after the second coming.

Apostolic Christianity— biblical Christianity —teaches that the Kingdom of God will, at the end of this age, be set up as a literal government on this earth to bring genuine WORLD PEACE at last. That, indeed, is tremendous Good News! The Kingdom of God is the ruling Family of God which we can enter at the future resurrection from the dead. The true Gospel is astounding! (p. 35.)

Pages 35-36 contain an insert in which Meredith insists that his followers will be transformed into God Beings when Christ returns. He insists that one is not born again at conversion or baptism but rather that it is merely a conception and one is not born again until Christ's return.

Pages 37-38 contains an insert in which Meredith explains away Colossians 1:13 to insist that his Adventist interpretation is correct.

Chapter 3

So Meredith insists that the Gospel refers to the Millennium and afterwards, not Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. This implicitly condemns any church that happens to not teach this doctrine or places little emphasis on this teaching. But there are other churches that also have similar teachings about Christ's return. They may not insist that it alone is the Gospel but they have that idea.

The name of Jesus Christ is absolutely vital. Remember that the early apostles and evangelists preached it right along with the message about the coming Kingdom of God. We must have the same focus. However, we must be sure it is the true Christ we’re talking about.

Many today worship a false Jesus who supposedly did away with his Father’s commandments. He is often portrayed as an effeminate weakling with long hair and a haunting, far-off look in his eyes. They just praise his name and feel nice sentiments about him. (pp. 39-40.)

Meredith then states that once one gets the Holy Spirit this empowers one to fulfill the commandments.

It is through Jesus
Christ literally living
His
life within us that we are able to keep
the Ten Commandments as a
way of life.
Do we keep the commandments perfectly? No. Nor do we do
anything else
perfectly!
But we do surrender to Christ to let Him keep God’s law in us
through the power of the Holy Spirit—and,
to the extent
we yield
to Christ, we are able to more fully obey God’s law. Then we are
told to continually “GROW in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). As we grow spiritually in our Christian lives, we
should be
keeping God’s law with
increasing zeal and faith. (p. 44.)

Meredith insists that a glorious wonder awaits those who follow him.

When the last trumpet sounds, those who have overcome and
daily learned to
“press
toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God” ... will feel themselves ascending
in the air to meet Christ. Can you imagine the surge of exhilaration and ecstasy the saints will have at knowing that they are now
members of God’s Family? At long last, they will have finally
overcome all obstacles to achieve their ultimate destiny—a destiny for which all of us were created!
As we hurtle skyward to join Christ in the air, we will realize
that we are forever part of the divine level of existence—members of God’s Family. (p. 47.)

The main narrative of this booklet ends with the following words.

Terrible events are sharply increasing in the world today. In one way, even that is Good News because it means that God’s Kingdom is drawing nearer. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). You are witnessing this Gospel being preached, even as you read this book- let! Also, the fact that Christ said “THIS gospel” in the middle of Matthew 24 proves that the Gospel does indeed include the prophetic events preceding the arrival of His Kingdom. It is Good News because God will be administering the only kind of medicine that will work on stubborn, carnal humanity: a forcible takeover of the planet—a divine coup d’état!

Many world leaders, leading scientists and other brilliant men believe that a one-world government is the only way to prevent humanity from destroying itself. Yet everyone knows that humanity could never do this in a cooperative and right way. Only God could do it correctly. And, make no mistake, God WILL DO IT. Then world peace will finally be ours. What fantastic Good News that is!

So when you hear people preaching about the wonderful “Gospel,” you had better make sure they aren’t just talking about the first phase of the Christian life—our forgiveness from past sins through Jesus’ blood—because the true Gospel goes far beyond that. It goes far beyond what most people understand or comprehend. Yet the ultimate Good News is absolutely transcendent in its implications. It challenges you toward a glorious life of active service in the Kingdom of God throughout Christ’s soon-coming reign on this earth and on into eternity over the vast universe! This is the full GOOD NEWS. This is the real Gospel of Jesus Christ! (p. 48.)

Pages 49-50 contains an insert in which Meredith insists that his followers must observe the law but that law keeping itself does not save even though he insists that it is necessary.

Friday, May 27, 2016

The COGs taught us to view matters in a simplistic black and white manner. They knew what is going on. We were to listen and accept it.

A new book, What is Modern Israel? by Yakov M. Rabkin, has just been released discussing how the dream of a Jewish state was actually quite different from traditional Judaism and shows that the movement that yearned to create a Jewish state in Palestine was in many ways a drastic break from the past. It was not an inevitable outgrowth of traditional Jewish thought.

Traditionally Jewish religious leaders said they were in exile. But what did they mean by exile? Why do the ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Holy Land still consider themselves in exile?

When the nationalist movement to create a Jewish homeland began to arise in the 1880s in response to anti-Semitic pogroms why it is that the vast majority of Jewish religious leaders vehemently opposed the idea?

Why do some secular Israelis loath ultra-Orthodox Jews and even have nightmares about them?

All this and much more is discussed in this fascinating book. It is well worth reading.

Very sad article about a Jewish woman mentioning how her father accusing her of talking like the Nazis because she said something he did not like.

Just say it, Dad. Say that there is an occupation, that we’re
controlling another nation. Say that 18 year-olds are being sent into
the heart of a civilian population to face horrible situations. No.
There is no such thing! He yelled at me with his eyes wide, banging on
the table. “You are talking like the Nazis. You want to annihilate us.
There is no occupation and there never was.” (When your own Jewish father calls you a Nazi, +972 Magazine.)

The COGs insist that violence and bloodshed is the expected lot for the people in the Holy Land. They seek to destroy any hope that this terrible situation can be brought to an end.

Gaza's exports over the years. A blockade is now in place by the State of Israel preventing the Palestinians of Gaza from exporting. Even during the terrible time of the Second Intifada such a measure was not enacted against the Palestinians of Gaza.

This blockade poisons relations between the State of Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza and inherently inflames tensions. Many people in Gaza who are not associated with Hamas or who criticize them suffer because of this blockade by the State of Israel.

The COGs' leaders constantly told us to watch Jerusalem. Maybe we were watching the wrong place.

In Jerusalem there is a football club named Beitar Jerusalem FC. Their home stadium is Teddy Stadium named after mayor Teddy Kollek. There is also a fan organization that supports this soccer team. It is named La Familia.

La Familia has gained a bit of a reputation over the years.

In 2012 Beitar Jerusalem’s hyper-aggressive football fans stormed into the Malha shopping mall, looking for its Arab cleaners and other non-Jewish staff to harm. Despite CCTV footage, no one was arrested. Witnesses weren’t sufficient either; several shopkeepers in the mall stated that the football hooligans asked them for knives and other weapons. The Malha is a few hundred metres from Beitar Jerusalem’s home, the Teddy Stadium, right next to the Green Line that separates East and West Jerusalem, as if the inflaming of ethnic tensions described wasn’t sensitive and dangerous enough.

The impunity of Beitar Jerusalem’s violent racists continued in 2013 when the club’s president, Arkady Gaydamak, was bullied into retracting his signing of two non-Jewish players: the Chechen Muslims Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev. What happened next to only the fourth and fifth non-Israelis ever hired by Beitar Jerusalem was a cascade of harassment rooted in ethnic and religious hatred. Members of La Familia told the Independent’s reporter at their March 3 game that year with Maccabi Netanya that “it’s not racism, they [the Muslims] just shouldn’t be here” and another stated “the club’s existence is under threat”. The signing of the Chechens was so unacceptable to some fans that they decided ... to set their club’s office on fire. One of Beitar Jerusalem’s staff lamented “all our history is gone” as he sifted through the charred remains. ...

After losing to Bnei Sachnin [in 2011], Beitar fans assaulted the opposing players and threw stones through car windows, and when Beitar won the Israeli Cup their player Amit Ben Shushan shouted along with fans “I hate all the Arabs!”… the same fans used later to reject Maccabi Haifa striker Mohammed Ghadir’s expression of interest in joining the club on the ludicrous grounds that it might offend them. (Mondoweiss.)

Al Jazeera recently released an article about the Japanese photojournalist Ryuichi Hirokawa.

In 1967, after completing university, he travelled to Israel.

"I entered a kibbutz. In Japan they wrote that all kibbutzim were
paradise," he said, noting he arrived shortly before the outbreak of the
Six-Day War. "I changed my mind. In Japan we were taught that war is
bad, but people were celebrating."

Hirokawa, who made a recent appearance at the second International Palestinian Conference for Media and Communications in Turkey, recalled finding ruins near the kibbutz.

"I asked people what these ruins were but no one answered," he said,
noting as he began to explore and research the ruins further, he began
to learn about the history of the Palestinian plight. "I started finding villages
and I studied what happened. It took me more than 30 years, but I would
take pictures and make documentaries about Palestinian villages. (Al Jazeera.)

The cover is illustrated by Gary Dorning and alludes to the border disputes in the South China Sea.

This issue's circulation is 281,190. This is a slight increase from the previous May-June issue which had a circulation of 280,230. The April issue's circulation
was 285,193. For March it was 287,175. The downward trend for its circulation continues.

Gerald Flurry has an alarmist editorial proclaiming that China's construction of islands in the South China Sea will lead to some sort of world war.

Brad MacDonald and the late Ron Fraser have a little article accompanying the editorial. It is an updated version of an article first published in 2012. It scare mongers about a great "mart of nations" will soon arise at the United States' expense.

Jorg Mardian has a little article encouraging people to exercise to keep one's brain functioning well.

Andrew Müller has an article complaining about Senator Sanders' campaign and how it is shifting some to move further to the left.

Andrew Müller has an insert article complaining about President Obama advising people to "pick what works" for themselves.

Robert Morley has an article insisting that socialism is not in the Bible. This seems to be done to condemn anyone too far to the left for his tastes. He also mentions second tithe and third tithe. The third tithe is mentioned to discredit some among the left.

Richard Palmer has an article complaining that the US military is wasting money. PCG constantly proclaims that a dire future awaits the United States. Such talk is bound to encourage those who listen to PCG to think that it is necessary to spend money on the military. Inserts may be seen here and here.

Gerald Flurry has an article that scare mongers about Germany and Iran's political moves in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea. He speculates about "sea gates" which is a common fixation within Armstrongism. HWA taught such things during World War II when he thought the Nazis would win. LCG teach this "sea gates" doctrine as well. The article even exploits a photo of Malta in ruins during World War II to incite fear in readers on page 23.

Joel Hilliker has an article bemoaning the discouragement some Republicans feel about Donald Trump. He insinuates in a dire manner that there will be no presidential election in 2020.

This sequence of curses is already beginning to ravage the
U.S. at an accelerating tempo. It is not difficult to imagine that,
despite Mr. Stephens’s hope, there won’t
be
a “next election.” (p. 35.)

WorldWatch mentions the rise of a far right candidate for President of Austria;scare mongering that ISIL is plotting to attack Germany; Germany building a military base in Turkey; President Putin reorganizing security personnel; scare mongering that Russians want the Soviet Union back; scare mongering about Russia prosecuting religious groups; scare mongering that President Obama is ending the special relationship with Britain; scare mongering about Iran's military development regarding missiles; and the murderous terrorist group Boko Haram's use of child suicide bombers.

SocietyWatch discusses the attractiveness of sugar; attempts to legalize marijuana in Canada; and complaining about President Obama making an executive order to make federally funded schools provide gender neutral toilets. PCG has a long and shameful history of demonizing transgender people.

There are letters. Here's one letter from Australia from a man who very often gets his letters published in this magazine.

In a voting system, the people are a reflection of the government and
leaders they choose.... I enjoyed the article, but it left a heavy sadness. Knowing that
the amount of suffering that is coming—although righteously measured—
is going to be beyond the greatest horror we can envisage. True education,
real government and God’s law are needed now more than ever. Thanks
for the article and a glimpse of the American system of government

Here's one letter that seems to compliment Germany trying to be nice to the refugees but the writer seems conflicted about it.

These are troubled times.... As much as I
would like to consider the refugees, I cannot
forget about the nation that was there
first and has built a certain reputation over
centuries. I am all of respect for those who
open the door to the needy and for the needy
to not take advantage only, but to cooperate
and be thankful without imposing their point
of view.

The Super Bowl performance by Ms. Knowles was met with some controversy. ... People who objected to the symbols of race war were themselves labeled racist. But what’s written by Mr. Flurry in this article is so easy to prove. The office of U.S. president is being used to radicalize America, utilizing media and pop culture to pull the masses toward class war and race war.

And so we see that PCG's leaders have produced yet another issue to convince their followers that God is with PCG and that they know what will soon happen in the future. However PCG's leaders have made many false predictions over the years. They cannot see the future. There is no need to follow them or to give them any money.

PCG's Richard Palmer has released an article commenting on fears regarding the appointment of a far right politician as the culture minister of Croatia. It is mentioned that he minimized the horrors of what happened in the collaborationist Ustashi regime of Croatia during World War II and that he used to lead a minor party that sympathized with the Ustashi. That is quite concerning. It is perfectly proper to be concerned and speak out about these things.

But it deserves to be noted that PCG has long decided to vilify Croatia ever since 1999. During the Kosovo War of 1998-9 PCG's leaders decided to ignore the widespread concerns and condemnations of the Milošević regime in Serbia and portray him as the victim of German aggression. They chose to portray Milošević as the good guy in order to demonize Germany and the Pope. The many human rights abuses laid at Milošević's doorstep were ignored by PCG's leaders so they could blame the Yugoslav Wars on Germany and the Pope.

Germany's recognition of Croatia and Slovenia in December 1991 was cited to blame Germany for the wars. But fighting had actually begun in June 1991. Slovenia had already gained de facto independence in July 1991. Serbia and Croatia fought a cataclysmic battle at Vukovar that raged from August 25 till November 18, 1991 killing about 3000 people. All that was before Germany's recognition of Croatia and Slovenia. In January 1992 a ceasefire ended this phase of the Croatian War of Independence. It was not until 1995 that Croatia would directly attack Serbia again.

Back in 2011 Richard Palmer himself minimized the Srebrenica massacre as merely "a crime of passion" which is a terrible way to describe the premeditated mass murder of 8000 Bosnian men after they had surrendered.

Shame on PCG for treating this most serious topic in such a superficial way. And PCG is still watching for Germany to conquer the United States.

It is perfectly proper to condemn anyone who wishes to minimize the horrors of what happened under the Ustashi during World War II. But PCG bears a terrible history of exploiting the Yugoslav Wars to prop up their false prophecies about Germany and the Pope even at the expense of the victims of the Milošević regime and the Karadžić regime.

***

Here are some other posts regarding the topic of the Yugoslav Wars and how PCG discusses it:

PCG's Robert Morley has released an article condemning the Obama Administration for providing free cell phone coverage. (Robert Morley, My Very Own Obamaphone, May 25, 2016.)

Recently Morley went to get his phone changed.

Last week, I almost got my very own Obamaphone—by accident.

While discussing his phone change he mentions that his old phone did not get the Internet.

I get free calls and text and how much Internet? … My old phone didn’t even have Internet.

Why would Morley admit such a thing in public?

He complains that "Obamaphones"' are quite common.

I would have been part of a very big club. Approximately 20 million Americans have received Obamaphones through government programs.... In fact, if rumor is true, entire inner cities have Obamaphones.

Why is Morley passing mere rumors to his readers? Why doesn't he investigate and talk to people to find out if these things are so?

Also it should be noted that some people use "inner-city" as a euphemism to describe African Americans. Is he thinking of people of a certain race using these "Obamaphones"?

He has embedded in the article two YouTube videos. Both feature African American women saying Obama will provide for them. Why does he choose videos of African American women? Could he not find people from any other race saying such things as well?

He thinks these "Obamaphones" are bad because one day the money will run out.

Ask any Greek. Talk to someone from Puerto Rico. Eventually, there
simply aren’t enough taxpayers left to support tax takers. Where are
Puerto Rico’s doctors and lawyers? Where are the wealthy? Why have they
left the island? When the money runs out—and it always does—the welfare
recruiters turn into street demonstrators. The people revolt. Chaos
reigns. And then real hardship and poverty set in.

He seems to be confusing private debt with public
debt. US dollars are printed by the US government. While with private
debt we cannot print our money so we can run out of money. Greece did not have control of its own currency since it was part of the Eurozone and the euro is controlled collectively by the European Central Bank. Puerto Rico does not have its own sovereign currency so it is a false equivalence to compare Puerto Rico with the US federal government. It is not possible for the US government to be forced to default on the federal debt since it is the source of US dollars.

We need to be careful about our preconceptions about people.

It is better to search out information instead of passing out rumors.

The US government is in no danger of running out of money any time soon.

It needs to be asked why PCG's leaders have got a self taught man to tell their readers about economic matters.

The marketing director for a front organization of PCG, Shane Granger, attended a celebration of the State of Israel's establishment in 1948 at a gathering in Houston on May 11. He invited the Consul General to visit PCG's $24 million Armstrong Auditorium.

How dare PCG's leaders try to exploit Israeli officials in an attempt to make PCG seem special in the eyes of their followers. It is morally wrong for PCG to do this.

PCG has a terrible reputation among the COGs. PCG can try to invite whoever they wish to go to PCG's $24 million auditorium but the truth about PCG is well known to those familiar with Armstrongism. Those who know the truth about PCG are not fooled in any way.

PCG would do better by trying improve relations with the other COGs and stop shunning ex-members and members of the other COGs instead of trying to make themselves look important.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

So Brad MacDonald hosted a broadcast of The Trumpet Daily (May 23, 2016) in which he discusses the militia movement. He starts this topic about 35 minutes into the broadcast. He cites a Washington Post article about the militia movement. Although he describes this as "an alarming trend" he leans so far to the right that he can't help himself but express sympathy for the militia described.

He complains that The Washington Post is too liberal for him. He complains that there are things about the article he disagrees with.

There are quite a few things I don't like about the article. The Washington Post is pretty liberal and they really paint some of the individuals that they focus on as, you know, just kind of being crazy and outlandish and even dangerous to America. (35:40-36:00.)

MacDonald does not mention that the article mentioned various outlandish ideas such as a plot to create a one world government, the US government promoting abortion to reduce the world population to one billion, even speculation that the US government committed the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He reads parts of the article. At one point he quotes the following passage.

Those in the movement call themselves patriots, demanding that the
federal government adhere to the Constitution and stop what they see as
systematic abuse of land rights, gun rights, freedom of speech and other
liberties. (Washington Post.)

MacDonald responds to this passage.

"Those in the movement call themselves patriots." See that. It's that kind of terminology that has to raise a questions mark when you read that. "They call themselves patriots." Well maybe they are patriots? [MacDonald chuckles.] Maybe they are patriots. (Brad MacDonald, 37:17-37:35.)

MacDonald later quotes the article.

“The last thing I want is violence,” Soper said. “But I hope they see
that if we continue down this path, we’re going to have more bloodshed
in this country.” (Washington Post.)

MacDonald then makes the following comments.

It's really a pretty frightening picture, isn't it? And you know he's right. He's right. Because... Because on the other side. There's a large group of people on the other side who say, "We want anarchy. We want violence." (Brad MacDonald, 44:00-44:20.)

Who's "the other side"? Why is MacDonald appealing to this militia man to convince his followers that PCG's dire predictions will finally come true?

Even though he says it is "an alarming trend" he is willing to portray the militia movement favorably by insinuating that they are patriots, refusing to discuss the concerning issues in the news article and insisting that this militiaman's fear of catastrophe is correct. It seems fair to say that Brad MacDonald sympathizes with the militia movement.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Intercontinental Church of God's leader,Mark Armstrong, son of Garner Ted Armstrong, has another misanthropic weekly update (May 20, 2016). Let's take a look.

He speculates that the EgyptAir flight was an act of terrorism. He falsely equates terrorism with "devout Muslim zealots" thus falsely equating murderous criminals such as those within Al Qaeda and ISIL with all Muslims everywhere. This fails to distinguish between the innocent and the guilty. This is Islamophobia.

There's more than ample evidence this week that American national leadership has slipped the boundaries of sanity on every subject. News outlets went non-stop this week on the EgyptAir flight that fell out of the sky over the Mediterranean Sea with 66 passengers on board en route from Paris to Cairo. While the cause is under investigation, all observers are convinced that it was another terrorist attack. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time before devout Muslim zealots would strike again, and even now, we know it won't be long before the next grotesque mass murder. The response here at home is that security measures must be heightened, and that means that the TSA will be giving American travelers an even harder time at terminal entries.

He proposes to discriminate against Muslims in airports.

How about rescinding security credentials from Muslim baggage handlers, food and beverage suppliers and maintenance workers? No, that would be discriminatory, biased, bigoted and has never been officially suggested. What they intend to do is crack down further on the traveling public! As if flying hasn't already been turned into a colossal disaster, with many people missing flights due to a three hour wait to be treated like potential terrorists by blue-gloved abusers. Maybe terrorists can't always be identified at a glance, but people who couldn't possibly be terrorists can. For this ridiculous "homeland insecurity" agency to absolutely refuse to "profile" possible suspects while allowing innocent American travelers to proceed without abusive treatment is another example of politically correct insanity, and it has taken over our society.

He indulges in inciting hatred and animosity against transgender people. He clearly never bothered to learn about gender dysphoria so he vilifies transgender people as just making up their own condition.

On the subject of the liberals' shiny new sacred cow, "Transgenders" in public and school showers and changing facilities, the president himself issued directives and got the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to send out notices that there would be legal consequences for any facility that denied access (or threw out) someone using a facility contrary to their actual physiological gender.

Now that it is harder to mobilize people against homosexuals after the Supreme Court legalized same sex unions a new target was needed. Transgender people became the new target.

Of course the Charlotte nonsense and the involvement of the president and two powerful government agencies, including the one charged with the responsibility of LAW ENFORCEMENT has encouraged some school districts to take a public stand on allowing "trans" individuals to use any facilities consistent with their "gender identity."

One's gender identity is determined in the brain, not by bodily anatomy. Normally one's anatomy and gender identity align with each other. But when they do not align this is called gender dysphoria.

It is bizarre. It's idiotic lunacy, and yet their determined to make all of America bow down to accept the lowest of the depraved as "special" and deserving of sympathy and understanding. But there is no understanding complete insanity, and that is apparently the point! You will agree, you will understand and you will like it, or else!

Just last year 22 transgender Americans were murdered. Furthermore while about 10 per cent of the American population have contemplated suicide about 40 per cent of transgender Americans have contemplated suicide.

But these harrowing facts revealing the vulnerability many transgender Americans are hidden from Mark Armstrong's followers behind his venomous contempt and scare mongering.

Mark Armstrong seems to think there should be some sort of separation between mainstream society and transgender people. Is this a call for segregation? This time directed against transgender Americans.

It's high time we drew the line, with corporations, with local stores and restaurants and every concern that's in our collective face with overt queer, transgender, weirdo nonsense! Whatever happened to the concept that the customer's always right? Every one of the "for profit" concerns that are pushing depravity depend on consumers for their survival. Tell them they can depend exclusively on queers and trannies for their business survival! Then let's see how long this stupidity survives. If Americans had any shred of backbone left, that's exactly what would happen.

Then in his typical style he has to bring up just about everything in his typically bizarre mish mash view of the world. He mentions the economic crisis in Venezuela, tensions with Russia, tensions with China, the refugee crisis in Europe (which is falsely called a "mass invasion"). He even bizarrely insists that the United Nations and President Obama are engaged in a grand conspiracy to get immigrants into the United States.

While we're being tied in knots with stupidity, socialism has the people of Venezuela starving and doing without basic necessities of life. Russia casually threatens the United States and our European allies. China is launching submarines with nuclear missiles, building military bases in the middle of the South China Sea, and threatening that it's ready for war if provoked. Europe is undergoing a mass invasion of North Africans and Middle Easterners and enduring an unending crime wave which is contributing to the coming collapse of the European Union. The United States is undergoing an onslaught of mass migration from terrorist states and from central America choreographed by the UN, an anti-American president and agencies led and populated by his own hand-picked bureaucrats.

What a ridiculous conspiracy theory. What a shallow way to camouflage his vilification of illegal immigrants by disguising his xenophobia as though it was some kind of heroic resistance against the United Nations and President Obama.

Ironically he links to a liberal blog affiliated with People For the
American Way dedicated to criticizing the religious right in the
section quoted above.

He then brings up Sodom and Gomorrah and insinuates a similar fate awaits the United States. Armstrongites such as his grandfather HWA and his various imitators have constantly made such dire predictions since the 1930s and all such predictions have failed miserably.

Strangely enough he links to an interview with Noam Chomsky, a left wing intellectual who believes and says many things that are quite contrary to what Armstrongites tend to believe in.

Why does he say such things? Partly it is to keep his followers loyal to him and his organization. By inciting fear and loathing of people outside of the group his followers are too worried, fixated and distracted with these issues to address the problems among themselves.

If one goes to Advanced Search
on Twitter, place the name of a Twitter account in "From these
accounts," then set the "Dates" to July and August 2014, one will be able
to see the tweets posted during the war in Gaza in 2014.

On May 19 PCG released a radio broadcast of The Trumpet Daily hosted by Brad MacDonald entitled "Lessons From Our Dysfunctional Celebrities."

To illustrate the type of "dysfunctional celebrities" MacDonald wishes to condemn a picture of Prince is presented.

Each week, it seems, we learn about another celebrity overdosing,
committing suicide, or sinking into dysfunction. These people have
tremendous wealth, fame, power and influence, yet so many are miserable
and dysfunctional. Meanwhile, society tells us, especially our children
and teenagers, that the celebrity lifestyle of wealth, fame and power is
one of happiness and stability, something to aspire to. In today’s
program, Brad Macdonald explores the depressing lives of a few
celebrities to show that we must not fall for the lie that success and
happiness come by the acquisition of wealth, power and fame.

Why couldn't PCG's 1% at least used a picture of a celebrity who is still alive?

This is not the first time PCG's 1% chose to criticize a famous singer after his death. When Michael Jackson PCG's Ron Fraser wrote an article condemning him as noted in a previous post.

The following passage is from a book written by a minister in Italy of Nigerian heritage. (Amazon and Google Books).

He writes the following about LCG's John Ogwyn.

One of my favorite authors, John H. Ogwyn, wrote in his booklet, "The beast of Revelation," is both an ecclesiastical and a civil government, and that the Pope is both a religious leader and a civil head of state. He quoted elsewhere in the same book that, "Nestled within the city of Rome is the world's smallest sovereign territory-the Vatican City, maintaining its own diplomatic relations with all the major powers. This miniscule city-state, ruled by the Roman pontiff, is a full participant in international affairs." I profoundly share these views with John Ogwyn.

From July 8 till August 26, 2014 war raged in Gaza. About 2251 Palestinians and 72 Israelis were killed in the conflict.

To remember the war let us take a look at the opinion columns of Arutz Sheva, an Israeli media outlet that caters for national religious Israeli Jews. A previous post had an outline of the columns but let us take a look at what was said by this media outlet at the time of this deadly conflict.

May peace soon come to the Holy Land.

***

July 1-5, 2014

One columnist complains that the truces made with Hamas in Gaza grants legitimacy to Hamas.

Israel's frenzied foes, twisted by Jihad, and unwittingly sustained by yet another misguided American president, will never act in the considerate manner of Achilles. The Palestinian aim is not the high-minded revitalization of some respected enemy. It is, rather, the literal "liquidation" of a thing.
Periodically, Israel and Hamas agree to a “ceasefire." But Hamas is a terrorist organization under international law, and not a legal personality with which any sovereign state may properly enter into authoritative war-limiting or war-terminating arrangements. By regularly entering into such an asymmetrical and damaging "truce,” therefore, Prime Minister Netanyahu would continue to enhance the legitimacy and operational effectiveness of Israel's criminal adversaries. (Link.)

One writer said the rise of ISIL means a Palestinian state can never be created as it will become like Iraq. In other words a two state settlement is not wanted. (Link.)

One writer expressed hope that Israeli soldiers would kill those responsible for the abduction and murder of the three.

I am a bundle of tears and
anger. One moment, the tears win out. The next, the anger burns so
brightly. I want...I want to hurt them so badly - for the psychological
torture they once again inflicted on Israel and on these three precious
families. For the pain they have caused these precious families. For
changing three families forever. For breaking the hearts of three
mothers, if not their souls. I want to flatten their homes, their
cities, their world. I want to curse their god, in whose name they say
they acted. Endless are the things my brain can think of in these
agonizing hours.
We will cry, we will mourn. We, unlike
them, don't kill innocents; we don't wage war on children. We are not
cowards. We don't hide behind our women and children. We don't - they
do. ...
I hope, I pray, I beg our soldiers to kill you in the firefight that
will come. And so the next message is to Israel's soldiers. Please,
please find a way. I don't care what the world says now - let them die.
We have no death penalty in Israel; the only one we have ever put to
death in 66 years is Adolf Eichmann for crimes against the Jewish
people.
So please, find a way, this time, let them die. Don't
bring them to "justice", to Israel's courts. They'll be convicted and
sentenced to life in prison - where their wives will come visit and
they'll breed more children in hate. They'll study in prison and get a
university degree and they'll watch the World Cup. And then some stupid
Israeli leader will release them for another kidnapped victim...or
worse, the bodies of the kidnapped victims.
In those seconds when the battle rages, may your aim be true. (Link.)

Some writers complained that President Obama did not fully support the State of Israel during the search for the abducted three.

So far, the administration's response to the crisis has been deeply
disappointing. Despite the kidnappings, President Obama continues to
recognize and support the Palestinian Authority-Hamas unity regime. The
annual U.S. aid package of $500-million to the Palestinian Arabs
continues, even though Hamas is now indirectly benefiting from that
aid.
Worse, the administration did not fully take Israel's side
in the pursuit of the kidnappers. In the midst of the ordeal, the State
Department called on Israel to show "restraint" in its actions against
Hamas. President Obama, in his statement following the discovery of the
bodies of the three victims, called on "all parties" to refrain from
steps that would "destabilize" the situation. Such language has always
been a thinly-disguised code word for urging Israel to go easy on the
terrorists. (Link.)

One writer talks about an Israeli doctor saying he does not want to treat Palestinians anymore. (Link.)

One writer complains that a checkpoint was removed in 2013. It is implied that if the checkpoint remained the three would not have been abducted. (Link.)

In the early morning of July 2, 2014 Mohammad Abu Khdeir, a sixteen year Palestinian of East Jerusalem, was murdered by Israeli extremists. His burnt body was discovered in a park. Angered by this murder a riot occurred in which a train station was burnt. One would think it was a spontaneous response to a grisly murder of a sixteen year old boy.

One writer asserts the riot was a vast international conspiracy involving the BDS movement in Israel and overseas and as the opening strike of war.

I have no doubt the BDS leaders in the US cooperated with the Arab
Mafia to attack the train and vandalize it. This was done to make the
international owners throw up their hands and leave. Wars are
traditionally fought by destroying the opposition’s infrastructure such
as trains, from the air or with ground troops.
The riots closing down the train for months were no less a military strike, a new manner of warfare - and Israel once again fell for it.
The
riots over the 16 year-old Arab boy were coordinated with the BDS
Movement in Israel and abroad. Watch the BDS leaders in the US and
Israel boast now how they got the light rail system closed down
suggesting they persuaded international corporations to quit the Jewish
state over phony “human rights violations.”
It was nothing less
than a bombing attack with the bombs replaced by the ISM and paid Arab
rioters, and Israel still has n’t understood this. The real losers, as
with the buses, are the Arabs who can’t get to work and who will be
incited by their leaders that it’s the fault of the Jews and that Israel
must become Palestine at all costs. (Link.)

One writer asserted that many journalists are terrorists.

Blame Israel first. Then seek the facts. That is how it works
among reporters covering the Middle East. Better yet, forget the facts.
Appeal to the emotions. This means, play it up for the cameras. So
believe this -- without the cameras there would be no riots, other than
the usual Arab anger about everything worldwide.
The
rioters know when it’s Showtime. Lights, camera, action – and now let
the stampede begin. Ready whenever you are, Mr. DeMille. ... In Israel, terrorists and journalists work as a team. I will go so far a
to say that therefore many of these journalists are themselves
terrorists. (Link.)

One writer complained about the scrutiny concerning the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir.

The world's reluctance to expose and explicitly condemn the savagery so
prevalent among Arab societies, while zeroing in with a magnifying glass
on Israel's defensive actions, demanding that she maintain an
unsustainable level of respecting human rights - even when it conflicts
with the basic right of self- defense, only perpetuates the racist
bigotry of low expectations from Arab society. (Link.)

One writer complains about calls for restraint.

“Restraint,” begs our State Department, on “both sides.”
Considering that one of the “sides” in this is a horde of bus-bombing,
child-abducting thugs who think “martyrdom” means “dying while
committing mass murder,” it's difficult to imagine what sort of
“restraint” is applicable in any conceivable legal or ethical framework.
Frankly, I think it would show tremendous restraint on Israel's part if
we don't wake up tomorrow to find that Gaza has been turned into a
smoldering glow-in-the-dark crater! ...Not that I'm suggesting a course
of action – the fallout, both literal and political, make this option an
untenable one. (Link.)

One writer called for the Israeli settlements in Gaza to be restored.

Renewal of the "settlements" is the only response that may still deter the enemy. (Link.)

One writer asserted that the State of Israel is the weaker side. (Link.)

One writer asserted both Fatah and Hamas have been disingenuous in negotiations with the State of Israel from the beginning of the Oslo Peace Process. (Link.)

One writer warned Israel not to launch a ground war into Gaza because leaving Hamas to rule Gaza is advantageous for Israel, namely Hamas rule over Gaza means Israel does not have to rule the Palestinians in Gaza.

Nevertheless, Israel has no need for or interest in destroying the
Hamas government in Gaza, as that would lead to chaos and force Israel
to take care of one and a half million Gaza citizens, of whom not even a
minyan (quorum of 10 men) are pro Israel. On the contrary, the very
existence of the Hamas government in Gaza seves Israel, as then the
Palestinian Authority divides into two parts that prevent the
establishment of a Palestinian state that may turn out to be a Hamas
state – including Judea and Samaria.

He also mentions that Hamas offered terms for a ceasefire which were rejected by the State of Israel.

The Hamas movement,
gallingly, sets conditions for a ceasefire: free those freed in the
Schalit exchange, free the Hamas leaders that were arrested, remove the
naval siege on Gaza, remove the sea blockade and end the targeted
assassinations.
Israel has to reject Hamas conditions, if
only because an agreement with a terror organization lends it legitimacy
and is a surrender to terror that that invites further pressure. (Link.)

In other words the blockade itself fuels violence and instability. End the blockade and the situation will be different.

One writer complains about Sharon's decision to withdraw the settlers from Gaza in 2005. (Link.)

Unmindful westerners do not understand the geography of Israel, the
'West Bank' and Gaza. They do not know that Gaza is not part of the west
bank, that there are no Israeli settlements in Gaza, that Gaza is not
occupied by Israel, that Gaza is not ruled by the PA, that Gaza is not
under the control of Abbas, that Gaza is ruled by Taliban-like
Jihadists. (Link.)

July 13-19, 2014

One writer asserts that the world hates Jews and the world loves to demonize Jews. He also writes the following about Baruch Goldstein, the extremist who murdered 29 innocent people on Abraham's grave. It was after this mass murder that Hamas began using suicide bombers against civilians. Hamas began using suicide bombers in 1993. At first it was against military targets. After Goldstein's massacre they began using them against civilians.

On December 6 [1993], Muslim terrorists gunned down Mordechai Lapid, one of
Goldstein's closest friends, as he was driving out through the town's
gate. Dr. Goldstein rushed to his friend and tried to revive him for
forty minutes, long after it was medically hopeless. Mordechai's son
Shalom also died of his wounds that day. Aaron Gross was kidnapped and
stabbed, waiting on a Hevron corner for his ride from yeshiva, and Dr.
Goldstein identified the body in an Arab hospital, where he bled to
death and was stabbed repeatedly. (Link.)

This is a war between good and evil, light and darkness. Every decent
Jewish publication and group must reject this group, even if it means
losing revenue. ...

An organization called the Jewish Voice of Peace (JVP) has issued a
letter which says that the issue in the Middle East is “rooted in the
idea that Jewish lives matter more than Palestinian lives.” The note –
which they plan to place in ads in Jewish newspapers including The Forward – continues “I’ve seen terrified Palestinian children in Hebron and Halhul, sitting on the ruins of their homes.”

Their
so-called “Open Letter” claims that the Israeli government “created
this situation. For weeks, the government knew that the three kidnapped
teenagers were dead. But they instituted a gag order on the media, lied
to Israelis and the world, and falsely claimed the mass arrests and
collective punishment of Palestinians was all in the hopes of finding
the teenagers alive.”

Shameful, hateful rhetoric. Akin to blaming
America for the WTC bombing, these conspiracy theorists must be
rejected. While this shameful organization does not reveal the source of
their funding, they have previously described themselves as the “Jewish
wing” of the Palestinian solidarity movement. ...

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) counts among its objectives an end to U.S.
aid for Israel (because of Israel's "repressive policies") and the
success of boycott and divestment campaigns against Israel.” (Link.)

The topic about what was known about the three young Israelis who were abducted and murdered by a rogue cell of Hamas on June 12, 2014 was mentioned here and here.

One writer (Arutz Sheva's founder) asserted that a ground invasion of Gaza was necessary.

I am keenly aware that a ground invasion will expose IDF soldiers to
increased danger. My son recently became an IDF tank commander and may
be among those to enter Gaza. But the lack of a ground invasion empowers
our enemies, diminishes our sovereignty, and will, in the long run,
cost Israel more money, terrorist attacks and blood. (Link.)

One writer says that the United States want to war so Israel should as well. (Link.)

One writer said that what happens to Israel's happens to the entire world. (Link.)

July 20-26, 2014

One writer complains about Geraldo Rivera saying that Israel had lost moral authority with the war in Gaza. (Link.)

One writer complains that some Europeans are doctors in Gaza. The writer labels them "warriors, fighters and militants" and compares them with the Nazi doctors who participated in the Holocaust.

These doctors are not humanitarians, but warriors, fighters and
militants. They stand with Hamas in the Gazan Shifa hospital with the
complicity of Norway's institutions and the European Union, knowing that
Hamas leaders and weapons are hidden in a bunker under the hospital. ...

Fosse, Gilbert and all the other European "humanitarians" are not
exemplary doctors who dedicate their lives to help humanity. They are
not the heirs of Albert Schweitzer who funded a hospital in Lambarenè.
They remind me of Heinrich Willerman, Hans Eisele and Aribert Heim,
three Nazi doctors who made atrocious experiments on the Jews and found
shelter in the Arab-Islamic regimes.

Like Fosse and Gilbert, they
were anti-Semitic executioners in white coats, like the doctors of the
Red Cross, who visited Theresienstadt during WWII and reported that Jews
were treated well. Now the same organization demonizes the Jews
defending themselves in Gaza. (Link.)

One writer complains about Netanyahu negotiating with Hamas.

Israel has made one terrible mistake during Operation Protective Edge by negotiating with Hamas. The discussion of a “cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians” means that Israel has de facto negotiated with Hamas. Publicly Israel won't recognize it, but who exactly did Prime Minister Netanyahu accept a cease-fire proposal from? Is it not Hamas? (Link.)

One writer complains about the BBC's coverage of the war in Gaza. (Link.)

One writer complains about Federal Aviation Authority and some European nations ordering civilian aircraft to stop going to Israel to protect them from possible problems caused by the war. (Link.)

One writer discusses the discovery of tunnels unknown to the Israelis and the cancellation of flights to Israel because of the war. (Link.)

Some writers complained that Mahmoud Abbas supported the ceasefire terms proposed by Hamas.

And here's what it received in return: Abbas's PLO announced on July 23
that it completely supports all of the extremist conditions that Hamas
has set for a cease-fire: The release of hundreds of Hamas terrorists
imprisoned in Israel; the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza (so
that Hamas can import more Iranian rockets, plus lots of cement to build
more terror tunnels); and huge amounts of international aid, which of
course will go straight into the pockets of corrupt Hamas and PA
officials. (Link.)

One writer complains about an open letter published in the Lancet by doctors present in Gaza.

Just this month, for example, the British medical journal Lancet
further degraded its academic respectability and credibility by
publishing something entitled “An open letter for the people in Gaza,”
signed by 24 doctors and scientists. In the language of propaganda and
politics—as opposed to the reasoned language of science and
academically-based inquiry—the signers had as their purpose “denouncing
what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.”

These
doctors and scientists, none of whom has had to live under an unceasing
barrage of more than 10,000 rockets and mortars launched from Gaza into
Israel, nevertheless denounced what they see as “the perversity of
[Israel’s] propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to
masquerade a massacre, a so-called ‘defensive aggression.’” Instead, the
signers believe there is no basis for Israel’s self-defense, that it is
actually no more than “a ruthless assault of unlimited duration,
extent, and intensity” and an “unacceptable pretext of Israel
eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege
they impose.” (Link.)

July 27-August 2, 2014

One writer implies that criticism of Israel during the war is motivated by anti-Semitic hatred. (Link.)

An interview is published which denounces the "extreme bias" of the New York Times against the State of Israel. (Link.)

The Minister of Agriculture called for the IDF to deliver a knock out blow against Hamas. (Link.)

One writer talks about anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in the Netherlands in 2013. (Link.)

One writer complains that journalists are too harsh to Israeli interviewees.

Occasionally I come across video clips of interviews conducted with Israeli spokesmen by the major Broadcast media such as BBC and CNN.
In most cases, I have been shocked and appalled by the aggressive
hostility displayed against the Israeli interviewee. Such
confrontational interviews are not only a violation of basic rules of
courtesy, but are a violation and perversion of the basic concepts of
journalism taught in an introductory course. A journalist should should
not be displaying hostility and bias against an interviewee who
responded to an invitation to appear on the program. A journalist has
the responsibility of providing unbiased and accurate information to
readers and viewers.
First of all, it isn't a fair
fight to begin with. The media correspondent was chosen for the job
partially because of his superb skills with the English language and
verbal expression. In contrast, the Israeli interviewee usually does
not have English as his dominant language. (Link.)

One writer calls for economic aid to Gaza to be stopped.

The developing international consensus to offer Gaza an economic
package in order to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire is immoral
and a strategic folly. It is also unlikely to be effective.The developing international consensus to offer Gaza an economic
package in order to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire is immoral
and a strategic folly. It is also unlikely to be effective. ...

It is true that Gazans are suffering. Nevertheless, it is wrong to
argue that the Gazans should not suffer the consequences of Hamas’
criminal actions. Unfortunately, Hamas was popular among the Gazans and
continues to be so. Moreover, all polls show that Gazans support
violence against Israel.
What moral justification exists for
helping people that support an organization intent on destroying the
Jewish state and is actively engaged in killing innocent Israeli
citizens? (Link.)

Some writers expressed hope that The Washington Post would compel President Obama to be more favorable to the State of Israel. (Link.)

One writer asserts that President Clinton once squandered an opportunity to apprehend the current leader of Hamas' armed wing. (Link.)

One writer proclaimed Islam to be the enemy of the United States. (Link.)

One writer condemns Jews who expresses sympathy with the Palestinians in Gaza. (Link.)

One writer labelled negative coverage of the State of Israel's conduct in the war as a "media pogrom". (Link.)

One writer condemned President Obama for not being pro-Israel enough for his tastes citing an interview with the New York Times. (Link.)

August 10-16, 2014

One writer complains about the foreign doctors operating in Gaza.

Now that a respected international organization of doctors has accused us of war crimes, we will not fall from our chairs if it also embraces the claims of a Hamas spokesmen who said that the IDF was told to obtain the blood of Palestinian children in order to bake bread. Of course, we'll tell them. Of course we have to bake our pitas with Palestinian blood, it's so that the Palestinian spleens and hearts that we reaped in the last blood libel won't be rejected when we use them for transplants.

And if those international doctors hate us, let them. When we report about the rocket arsenals under Gaza's Shifa Hospital, they don't believe us. But if Hamas decides to aim a rocket barrage at an Israeli hospital and hits it, they will contend that it was a legitimate operation against the pocket knives that one can find on patients in the hospital's Emergency Room.

The writer also says arms were found in UNRWA schools.

The UN is simply not a factor in our mindset anymore. Now that rockets
were found under and inside three UNWRA schools, we have a sneaking
suspicion that the organization is arming itself against an attack on it
by UNICEF or UNIFIL. The most the UNWRA people were willing to do up
to now is to hand over the Qassams to the Palestinians and ask to get
them back signed by a parent.

The writer also insinuates that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon is worse than Hamas.

We all know how to parrot the mantra that if Hamas falls, we will get
something worse in its place, but it is quite possible that the
something worse is Ban ki-Moon. (Link.)

One writer complains about Geraldo Rivera saying the State of Israel had lost its moral authority.(Link.)

One writer complains about an advertisiment by a Jewish organization in the Netherlands as being insufficiently pro-Israel. (Link.)

Some writers discuss Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision not to accept an invitation by the Palestinian Authority for a visit to the West Bank. (Link.)

One writer talks equates Hamas as worth less than animals.

Israel just came out of another war against terrorists whose value is
less than that of animals. Do you know of any animal species sheltering
behind its own children?
But the Jewish State, despite its media,
its cynical politicians, establishment, once again showed the world it
is the best humanity has to offer. (Link.)

If You are new please read this

Hand in Hand for Syria

Keep Somalia's Remittances Open

I encourage readers to sign this petition from Oxfam calling upon the U.S. government to let the Somali diaspora continue to send remittance to their loved ones in Somalia.

Moves have been made to shut down such remittances from Somalis in America. Many Somalis need these remittances. The remittances to Somalia are larger than foreign aid contributions and are a lifeline to these people caught in trouble and turmoil.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

What sort of man is he? A man who could say things like this.

"Mr. Armstrong has reminded us again that we are to disfellowship any members who attend GTA's [Garner Ted Armstrong's] campaigns, church services or other meetings. Some of our weaker members apparently do not realize that this man is in direct rebellion against God and His government! We must not allow them, or ourselves, to rationalize about this matter, to try to "help the underdog," or in any other way lend support to one whose gross immorality, whose long standing "play acting" and hypocrisy, and whose direct insubordination to the Government of God has long been and is now a source of confusion and DIVISION among God's people. So, as per Mr. Armstrong's instruction, I charge and exhort every one of you faithful ministers of the living Christ to explain this in no uncertain terms to your members, to warn them about this cause of division and then to disfellowship any who consort with GTA or any of his fellows." (Roderick C. Meredith, Pastor's Report, May 21, 1979, pp. 1-2.)

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

"During the ten years I have been an employee of the Worldwide Church, you have been poorly spoken of by most of the ministers and employees I have known. I vividly remember the absolute unbounded glee that was openly expressed by a good number of respected men in the church when you were first "shanghaied." [In 1972.] I could begin by naming names, which I am sure would shock you. I was one of the few who stood, where possible, for you. Your tenure as superintendent of ministers, as I believe the office was then called, was looked on as nightmarish. While you held office during the years of growth, most of those whom I know gave you very little credit for that growth. Almost everyone whom I know, whether they be former friends of yours, or continuing foes, recalls insensitive and terrible things you have done. Without exception, at least among my acquaintances, they all credit you with an unbridled lust for power and list you as one who is willing to pay the price of gaining that power, no matter what. I have, through many of the last few years, believed you had principles you would not violate. Many a man of experience in the church assured me of my error. Events have proven me wrong and them right. Mr. Armstrong has himself been widely quoted as saying of you that you were so righteous that you were so "righteous you were unrighteous." " (David Robinson, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, Chapter 16, p. 207.)

Of course it is impossible for me to personally verify these assertions but people deserve to know what this knowledgeable man had to say about him.